The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1887-05-18

s0lne snail but important pirce II evil
dence, Which his experienced e{cs Wo9Id
discover at a glance. In very short
tine he appeared and after word or
two commenced his Investigations. He
carefully examined the safe. HE window
and the door. Nothing seemed 10 escape
him. He took volumnous notes. mca-
ured f0otnark which he discovered on
the floor, but the footmark on further
inquiry was found to be his own. which
rather put him out.
told him of the jewels which had been
placed in my care SO lately.
Your man informed M monster a.
we CANT that you had diamonds Of great
value in your iron safe.
\ flammy dew broke ont suddenly on
my forehea1 rs | remembered that Lady
oGonnor Vas counting on appearing IN
those same jewels at the prefecture ball
that night.
"On the strength of what your servant
told me, monster continued the detective
/ have already telegraphed 10 Mar>eles
Genoa and Turin. and have directed some
of my most trustworthy men TO be on the
alert at the railway stations and the port
> will send and let monster know the mo-
ment we get any trace of the stolen
property
made ont careful list of all had
. lost gave /. to the detective, aud then re
turned To my rooms 10 dress in a rather
less superficial manner. The awful bust
NESS of breaking the loss of the jewel, to
Sir Frederick and Lady O'Connor was
now staring me in the face and a
walked To their hotel became the prey
10 the most paraly1ing nervousness
hope it will ever be my lot to endure.
facing the sea, and though did not look
at anything round me except the two
people had come to see, | remembered
afterwards, every detail of the scene.
They We're AT breakfast. The refresh
ing, slln-n armed morning air brcathed
softly III through the open window, scent
ed by the mign0nette, which grew thick
~ in boxes on the balcony outside
Lady Conner looked very graceful and
pretty in a long loose gown of some soft
Indian silk, trimmed with lace Sir Fred
erick, also. in comforta lie, unconvcn-
tlona garments, WAS reading aloud a let
ter over which they were both laughing
mcrrily as ! WAS announced. They well
coined me warmly, looking Il if early and
expected visitors were quite IA common
occurrence, and between them carried on
the usual preliminary chit-chat about the
weather, the delight of being able to
breakfast with the window open in the
month of November, the view, etc , a.
long rs the servant remained in the room,
while stood looking from one to the
other. solennlv bowing my head in silent
answer to their cheerful remarks. 1t i
not necessary 10 relate what passed, >uf
flee it to say that both Sir Frederick and
Lady OConnor possessed an unusual
share of Kindness of heart and of sympa.
thy with other peoples misfortuncs, and
they cndeaNored To make my unpleasant
position aS easy for me as possible.
Then followed II week of restless actvi-
ty. haunted the police bureau, if | was
not there two or three times day my
self sent Roscoe to find out for me if
any kilograms had arrived for me on the
all-inporlant subject, any clue been found
to throw the smallest light upon it,
one lovely afternoon | WAS walking
down the Promenade dies Anglais in any
thing but cheerful frame of mind in
deed, do not think | ever felt so utterly
depressed before, Nothing whatever had
been heard OF the missing Jewels, and |
during Il long consultation that morning
with Aigunez, the detective, he had told |
me that he firmly believed that the rob |
| berry was the work of one man, and that |
the Jewels were still in Nice had been |
calling at one of the pretty villas beyond |
the Var, and WAS now making my way |
down the idle of the promenade next the !
houses, to the lloteldc la Medterrance |
to talt over Aiguncz's last suggestion |
with Sir Frederick DConnor As | was |
passing the high, solid walls of the now
quite unused cemetery noticed that the |
door was ajar, and, expecting to find |
there old Baroni. the care-takcr, whom |
knew, ! pushed open the door and enter
ed. Nobody was there; all WAS silent
and solitary. Here and there were untidv |
heaps of rubbish; tangled. overgrown
bushes; and propped against the walls |
were two or three graycstoneS that had |
covered graves from which the remains |
had been removed to some family vaul
elsewhere. could not help wondering |
how much Barnni received for the amount
of care and labor he bestowed on the old /
English battle-ground When my eyes |
which We're uncommonly sharp ones, had |
become accustomed to the dark shadows |
/ thrown by the walls and the brilliant |
! glarr where the shadow-line ended, | /
noticed that gravestonc lying in rather
a retired spot appeared, by the fresh-look |
/ ing ioot-markS round it. to have bee |
lately moved. do not think this cir |
cum>tance would have reused my Curio>i /
/ tY, i'll :he then pre-occupicd state of my |
mind, had it not been that close beside ii |
Il large branch of a neighborng tree had |
been bent down and fastened firmly to
the ground by means of stone This |
arrested my attention, it was so evidently |
intended to mark the spot EXerting all |
my strength, | pushed the heavy stone
sufficiently to one side 10 enable me To see |
| that it concealed small pit recently dug. |
by the look of the mould round it. 1t |
WAS empty, managed To replace the |
graveStone. and left the cemetery, care
fully closing the door behind me and |
CHANGING round to see if my actions had !
been observed.
| hurried on 10 the hotel, wondering /
and conjcctnrng a To the ossibe mean |
ing of the curious little mystery | had |
! Just discovered. The small obong pit /
Tor what purpose could it have been pre- |
/ pared, My first idea WAS that "A murder /
had been or was about to be committed |
and in thi, way it MS intended to get rid /
of the victim body; but the hole was
certainly not large enough for Il grown /.
person. Mas il possible that il WAS To be /
/ the nnblc>>cd nnadorncd tomb of some !
/ little one. done 10 death by pitiles, earthly /
guardians Who found its frail, helpless T.
i life Il burden Ia them That Was tho
4 hdeou> "A fancy. Suddenly the Thought /
struck me that it might he a hiding place /
/ for property. BY love, the diamonds
At that moment reached the Mcditcr /
rance. and. going up the broad stairs +.
/ three nj time my excitement, knock 4
ed ut the door of the O'Connors' ii ting
room Sir Frederick was alone, smoking /
with the last number Of the World in his I
/ hand
Il felt sure You would come in this
afternoon, he said, as he pushed his
cigar-ca>c toward me. 50 put oil going
10 the club. What is the latest intclli-
i gence:
| first told inn of Aieunezs opinion,
/ that the jewels were still in Nice an opiu-
i ion Which had now gained for me a dou-
/ bic significance Then unfollcd my
own budget and told him of all had
seen in the old cemetery which had been
closed for years.
This put Sir Frederick into the widest
spirits. "Wevc got them now Blake.
he exclaimed, and no mistake about 1t ,
They have run themselves into nice |
trap OF course. these are the raScalS /
we're after. What do You say Don't ,